System for operating miniature vehicles

ABSTRACT

A system for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a roadbed having side-by-side current conductive lanes with substantially flush tread surfaces and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator as the vehicles are transferred freely from one lane to another. The roadbed has lane bordering side walls along the outer edges of the outermost lanes. A propulsion motor is mounted on the vehicle body by means providing limited fore and aft movement thereof relative to the vehicle body to effectively operate front steering wheels of the vehicle automatically in response to forward movement of the motor in response to the momentum of the vehicle when the current to the motor is suddenly cut. The motor is forced forwardly through a gear train connecting the motor to driving wheels of the vehicle due to the momentum of the vehicle when the current thereto is cut. On forward movement, the motor engages a front wheel axle assembly and pivots the assembly toward the opposite lane depending on the lateral disposition of a fulcrum portion of the front axle assembly, which positioning is determined by engagement of one of the front wheels with the adjacent lane bordering side walls.

United States Patent [1 1 Brand et al.

[451 Sept. 24, 1974 SYSTEM FOR OPERATING MINIATURE VEHICLES [75] Inventors: Derek A. Brand; Alexander lmatt,

both of Camarillo, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates,

Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Nov. 28, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 419,521

[52] US. Cl 104/60, 180/79, 46/244 A [51] Int. Cl A63g l/00 [58] Field of Search 104/60, 118, 119, 242,

104/2441; 273/86 V; 272/243 LV, 244 R, 244 A; 180/79 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,774,340 ll/l973 Barlow 46/244 A 3,797,404 3/1974 Barlow 180/79 Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Assistant ExaminerD. W. Keen Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Coffee and Sweeney [57] ABSTRACT A system for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a roadbed having side-by-side current conductive lanes with substantially flush tread surfaces and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator as the vehicles are transferred freely from one lane to another. The roadbed has lane bordering side walls along the outer edges of the outermost lanes. A propulsion motor is mounted on the vehicle body by means providing limited fore and aft movement thereof relative to the vehicle body to effectively operate front steering wheels of the vehicle automatically in response to forward movement of the motor in response to the momentum of the vehicle when the current to the motor is suddenly cut. The motor is forced forwardly through a gear train connecting the motor to driving wheels of the vehicle due to the momentum of the vehicle when the current thereto is cut. On forward movement, the motor engages a front wheel axle assembly and pivots the assembly toward the opposite lane depending on the lateral disposition of a fulcrum portion of the front axle assembly, which positioning is determined by engagement of one of the front wheels with the adjacent lane bordering side walls.

4 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures Pmmm 3887286 sum ear 4 SYSTEM FOR OPERATING MINIATURE VEHICLES BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a system for simulating realistically in a toy, and through means of remote control, characteristics of the travel performance of actual road vehicles represented by miniature travelling replicas of the vehicles.

Model automobiles which are driven over toy tracks have become increasingly popular for some time, even more popular than electric trains operable over confining tracks. However, so many of the presently available road racing toys basically are merely extensions of the conventional electric train concept. The vehicles or systems therefor have become known as slot car systems wherein the model cars are constrained by virtue of slots and/or guides to a single dimensional or linear path. It is obvious that such a toy has limited realism in operation, since the only variable left for the operator is regulation of the speed of travel.

For realism in toys that simulate highway traffic, as differing from toys in the art of toy or model railroading, it is desirable that the miniature road vehicle be free to be steered arbitrarily at the will of the operator without confinement or guidance by upstanding track rails or by slots sunken in the roadbed to be travelled by the .vehicle. Also for realism, the toy road vehicle should be steerable in a manner to turn out and pass one another along the route by crossing over from one traffic lane to another at the will of the operator while substantially continuously being propelled by current derived from the roadbed which is substantially flat throughout.

Attempts have been made to provide the operator with this second degree of freedom of operation provided by free steering of the vehicle. This invention is directed to providing a new and improved system for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a predetermined path and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator.

It is, therefore, a general object of this invention to provide a toy of the character described, particularly such a toy which has more realistic operation and which includes an improved model vehicle movable over a three-dimensional substantially flat tread surface on a track.

The invention contemplates providing a roadbed travelled by the vehicle and having side-by-side current conductive lanes with substantially flush tread surfaces permitting the vehicles to be transferred freely from one lane to another. Each vehicle includes a body provided with at least one surface engaging steering wheel turnable about a generally vertical axis for guiding the direction of movement of the vehicle from one lane to another. Moving means is provided on the vehicle and is operatively associated with front steering wheels to condition the steering wheels for movement toward a predetermined position to move the vehicle in a predetermined direction. At least one surface engaging driving wheel is mounted on the vehicle body and is operable by an electrical current responsive propulsion motor on the vehicle body. Current collectors are mounted on the vehicle and are operatively connected to the propulsion motor and in conductive contact with portions of the current conductive lanes. Actuating means is operatively associated with the steering wheel moving means and includes a mass mounted by means providing fore and aft movement thereof on and relative to the vehicle body to operate the steering wheels automatically in response to forward movement of the mass relative to the vehicle body when the vehicle is slowed, whereby the steering wheel may be turned solely by cutting the current to the propulsion motor, through the current conductive lanes and vehicle current collectors.

The aforesaid mass comprises the propulsion motor itself slidably mounted on and for limited fore and aft movement relative to the vehicle body. In our copending US. Pat. application, Ser. No. 263,985, which was filed June 19, 1972 and entitled A System for Operating Miniature Vehicles, the steering wheel moving means was spring biased and the aforesaid actuating means comprised a forwardly facing dihedral surface on the front of the motor having rearwardly diverging surface portions and a rearwardly facing dihedral sur face on the biasing means having forwardly diverging surface portions. The dihedral surface on the steering biasing means was automatically shifted in response to the vehicle being positioned in one or the other of the lanes to permit engagement of either diverging surface portions of each dihedral surface with that of the other and thereby provide for steering the vehicle in either transverse direction.

The shifting means in the aforementioned application comprised lane bordering side walls along the outer edges of the outermost lanes and engageable with the steering wheel on the respective adjacent steering side of the vehicle to urge the steering wheel inwardly slightly, but sufficiently to insure that the dihedral surfaces will initially engage in such a manner as to steer the vehicle only toward the opposite lane. The same type of lane bordering side wall shifting means is utilized in the present application. However, the moving means for the front steering wheels comprises a front wheel axle assembly which is shiftable with the wheels bodily in a lateral direction side to side of the vehicle. The front wheel axle assembly has fulcrum means about which the assembly pivots in response to forward movement of the propulsion motor, the direction of pivoting of the assembly being dependent upon the lateral position of the fulcrum means. That lateral position of the fulcrum means for the front wheel axle assembly is determined by the shifting thereof caused by engagement of one of the steering wheels with the respective adjacent side wall bordering the roadbed outermost lanes.

The propulsion motor is connected to the driving wheel of the vehicle by a gear train, including a pinion gear mounted for rotation with the driving wheel about a transverse axis and a worm gear in mesh with the pinion gear and connected to the motor for rotation thereby about a fore and aft axis. The propulsion motor therefor is forced forwardly, through the gear train, due to the momentum of the vehicle when the current is cut.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the chassis of a miniature vehicle made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention, with a horizontal section through the left front wheel thereof;

FIG. 1A is a vertical section taken generally along the line 1A-1A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a bottom plan view similar to that of FIG. 3 but with the front steering wheel axle assembly pivoted so as to steer the vehicle toward the left;

FIG. 3B is a bottom plan view of the front end of the vehicle as shown in FIG. 3A, but with the front steering wheel axle assembly pivoted so as to steer the vehicle toward the right;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of the components which comprise the front steering mechanism of the present invention which cooperates with the movable propulsion motor;

FIG. 5 is a schematic, cross view through three types of tracks which may be utilized with vehicles as generally shown herein; I

FIG. 6 shows a circuit diagram for remotely controlling a vehicle of the present invention through a six contact, two-lane track;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the track circuitry for the control circuit of FIG. 10, showing schematically the current collectors on a pair of individually operable vehicles;

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view through the six contact, two-lane track of FIGS. 10 and 11;

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram showing the remote con trol means for utilizing a four contact, two-lane track; and

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of the electrical components on a pair of individually operable vehicles for use on the four contact, two-lane track of FIG. 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings in greater detail, a system according to' the present invention for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a predetermined path and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator is shown. A miniature vehicle made in accordance with the concepts of the present invention is shownin FIGS. 1 through 4, and various tracks and control circuits for utilizing the miniature vehicle of FIGS. 1-4 are shown in FIGS. 5 through 10. The miniature vehicle first will be described.

Each miniature vehicle includes a chassis having a body or frame portion, generally designated 20, for mounting a vehicle body as shown in phantom at 21. The chassis is provided with a pair of surface engaging front right and left steering wheels, generally designated 22a and 22b, respectively, turnable about a generally vertical shifting axis (as described hereinafter) for guiding the direction of movement of the vehicle. A pair of rear surface engaging driving wheels 26 are mounted for rotation with a rear axle 28 which is operatively connected through a gear train, generally designated 30, to an electrical current responsive propulsion motor 32 for rotating the rear driving wheels 26 to drive the vehicle forwardly. Front wheel moving means, generally designated 34, is operatively connected to the steering wheels 22a, 22b to pivot the steering wheels simultaneously toward predetermined right or left positions to move the vehicle in a predetermined right or left direction.

The gear train 30 between the motor 32 and drive wheels 26 comprises a worm gear 36 common to the drive shaft of the motor 32 and rotatable thereby about a fore and aft axis, and a pinion gear 38 in mesh with the worm gear 36 and fixed to the rear axle 28 to drive the rear wheels 26 in response to actuation of the electric motor 32.

The front steering wheel moving means 34 which facilitates steering the front steering wheels 22a, 22b includes a front wheel axle assembly, generally designated 40 in FIG. 4, which comprises an upper axle portion 40a and a lower pivoting portion 40b. The upper axle portion 40a has a pair of outwardly protruding axle pins 41 which are snap fit within apertures 42 of the front steering wheels 22a, 22b as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 1A. The pivoting portion 40b of the front axle assembly 40 has a pair of upwardly protruding pins 43 which are press fit into apertures 43a in the underside of the axle portion 40a as seen in FIG. 1A to hold the axle portion 40a and the pivoting portion 40b together for conjoint lateral movement and pivoting movement relative to the vehicle chassis 20.

The front wheel axle assembly 40 is movably positioned and held on the chassis 20 by the sandwiching of a pair of inclined ramp portions 44 near the front of the chassis between the upper axle portion 40a and the lower pivoting portion 40b of the axle assembly as best seen in FIGS. 1A and 2. The ramp portions 44 are inclined downwardly and forwardly to bias the front wheel axle assembly 40 in a generally forward direction.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 through 38, a pair of tabs 45L and 45R protrude downwardly from the chassis 20 near the front end thereof in front of the pivoting portion 40b of the front wheel axle assembly 40. The tabs 45R, 45L are spaced so as to define a gap 46 therebetween as best seen in FIGS. 3 through 38. The pivoting portion 40b of the axle assembly 40 has a pair of forwardly protruding bosses 47L and 47R which are spaced apart a greater distance than the spacing 46 between the downwardly protruding tabs 45L and 45R on the underside of the chassis. The purpose of the depending chassis tabs 45L and 45R and the forwardly protruding bosses 47L and 47R is that the bosses form fulcrums about which the front axle assembly 40, and thus the front steering wheels 22a, 22b can pivot to steer the vehicle. This is accomplished by shifting the entire axle assembly 40 and the front steering wheels laterally of the chassis so as to dispose one of the fulcrum bosses 47L, 47R in the spacing 46 between the chassis tabs 45L, 45R so that the other fulcrum boss acts as the operative pivoting point of the assembly. As shown in FIG. 3A, the entire axle assembly 40 has been shifted laterally of the chassis to the left so as to dispose the boss 47R in the spacing 46 so as to establish the boss 47L as the operative pivoting point to pivot the axle assembly and thereby steer the vehicle to the left as the boss 47L bears against the rear side of the chassis tab 45L. The reverse is true in FIG. 3B where the axle assembly had been shifted to the right to establish the boss 47R as the pivoting point for the axle assembly to pivot the assembly and steer the vehicle to the right. As seen in FIG. 3, the front axle assembly is generally centrally located whereat the vehicle will travel in a generally straight path. To facilitate transverse shifting of the front axle assembly and front steering wheels relative to the vehicle chassis by means to be described hereinafter the chassis is recessed as at 48 (FIGS. 2 and 4) beneath the inclined ramps 44 so that the lower pivoting portion 40b of the front axle assembly can shift laterally therein as the upper axle portion 48 shifts laterally on top of the ramps 44.

In order to steer the vehicle, the motor 32 comprises a mass which is slidably mounted on top of the vehicle chassis or frame 20 for fore and aft movement relative to the vehicle in the direction of arrows B (FIG. 1). A pair of side electrical contacts 56 protrude from the sides of the housing for the motor 32 for engagement with upstanding flanges 58 of conductive collector brackets (described hereinafter) to provide current to the motor. The motor is held down on the vehicle frame by means of a guide clip 60 having tongues 60a (FIG. 3) on the underside of the vehicle frame 20. As best seen in FIG. 2, the clip 60 holds the motor onto the vehicle frame so that the motor can rest on and slide fore and aft of a top surface area 61 of the vehicle frame. The front of the motor is fixed on for movement with a carrier member, generally designated 62. The carrier member has a rear bottom portion 62a on which the front of the motor rests and is fixed. The carrier portion 62a is received in and guided by a front to rear elongated recess 63 in the top surface 61 of the vehicle frame. The carrier member 62 has a forward abutment portion 62b and a pair of right angle and downwardly projecting flanges 62c which rest at the bottom thereof on top of the vehicle frame. A pair of upwardly protruding pins 64 (FIGS. 1 and 4) ofthe vehicle frame are disposed on opposite sides of the carrier 62 to position and guide the same in its fore and aft movement. The abutment portion 62b of the carrier frame 62 is disposed for movement forwardly between the ramp portions 44 of the vehicle frame (as best seen in FIG. 4) for abutment against the rear side of the axle portion 40a of the front axle assembly 40 to cause the front axle assembly and, thus, the front steering wheels to pivot in response to forward movement of the motor 32, the direction of pivoting being determined by the lateral shifting of the front axle assembly as described above.

Thus, it will be apparent that on forward movement of the motor 32 on and relative to the vehicle body or chassis 20, the motor will, through the carrier 62, abut the axle portion 40a of the front axle assembly and by such abutment or engagement effect steering of the vehicle to the right or left solely by the forward movement of the mass forming motor.

In the embodiment of the invention shown herein, and with particular reference to FIGS. 1, 5 and 8, shifting means must be provided to shift the front axle assembly 40 to the right or left to preposition the fulcrum bosses 47L, 47R to steer the vehicle only toward the opposite lane on forward movement of the motor 32. In the exemplary embodiment, this shifting means comprises lane bordering side walls 66 along the outer edges of the outermost lanes of the track (described in greater detail hereinafter) and engageable with the steering wheel on the respective adjacent side of the vehicle. This engagement urges the entire front axle assembly inwardly sufficiently to cause one of the bosses 47L or 47R to be positioned in the spacing or gap 46 between the tabs 45L and 45R as described above. Front or wheel bumper means of the vehicle chassis 20 or vehicle body 21 can comprise abutment means to limit the inward movement of the steering wheel relative to the chassis under the urging of the side wall means 56. Actually, the principle contact between the vehicle and the side wall means 66 is the vehicle body, whether it be the frame or chassis 20, or the cosmetic body 21 of the vehicle, and the adjacent steering wheel thus can move slightly into and out of engagement with the wall means to permit easy rotation of the wheel with the particular pivoting boss or fulcrum 47L, 47R still disposed in the space or gap 46.

As mentioned above in regard to FIG. 3A, the steering wheels and the front axle assembly are moved inwardly sufficiently to move the fulcrum boss 47R into the spacing 46 so that the fulcrum boss 47L is the operative pivot point to steer the vehicle to the left in response to forward movement of the motor 32. This occurs when the vehicle is in the rightmost lane where the wall means or curbs 66 therealong force the front axle assembly inwardly to the left. As the vehicle leaves the rightmost lane, electrical contact (described hereinafter) is broken between the vehicle and the current conductive lane and the vehicle moves to the leftmost lane under its own inertia. In the leftmost lane, the vehicle again picks up power and proceeds forwardly.

In order to positively move the motor 32 forwardly to steer the vehicle out of the lane in which it is travelling and move the vehicle to the opposite lane, the current simply is broken to the propulsion motor whereby the mass of the motor can be moved forwardly under momentum of the vehicle while the vehicle is tending to move forwardly. With the motor being in mesh with the rear wheels 26 by means of the gear train 30 (comprising worm gear 36 and pinion gear 38) the motor is forced forwardly, through the gear train, due to the momentum of the vehicle when the current to the motor is broken. Actually, the rear wheels become the driving force to push the motor forwardly. However, it should be understood that the invention contemplates the utilization of a free mass having the aforesaid engaging or abutting surfaces thereon and slidably or movably mounted on the vehicle for movement relative thereto under its own momentum as the vehicle is slowed during movement to effectively steer or otherwise control the vehicle.

In order to hold a vehicle sufficiently close to the side walls 66 of the track to insure that the steering wheels are urged inwardly to preposition the fulcrum bosses 47L and 47R, means are provided directly on the track as shown in FIG. 5. More particularly, relatively shallow grooves generally of the width of the driving wheels 26 are provided adjacent the upstanding side walls 66 of the track. These grooves receive the adjacent side wheels of the vehicle and serve to hold the vehicle closely to the lane bordering side wall along the outer edge of the respective lane of the track. However, the grooves are sufficiently shallow (e.g., in the order of 1/32 of an inch) as not to interfere with movement of the vehicle out of a particular lane toward the opposite lane. The center track embodiment shown in FIG. 5 eliminates the grooves 70 and cants the side-by-side lanes of the track from a central crest 72 downwardly toward the side walls 66 whereby the vehicle sort of leans against the side wall to urge the adjacent steering wheels inwardly. It should be pointed out that the incline of the lanes is shown in FIG. exaggerated. Actually, there is a leaning effect in the other two embodiments of FIG. 5 due to the height differential provided by grooves 70.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show current collectors, generally designated 74, mounted on the underside of the vehicle in two of three possible positions. Each current collector has an upstanding bridge portion 76 (FIG. 1 also) which receives forwardly protruding tab portions 78 protruding from the front of the vehicle chassis to properly position the collectors under the vehicle. The bridge 76 has a vertically elongated slot 80 to receive the tabs 78 to permit the collectors to move vertically relative to the underside of the vehicle so as not to interfere with the smooth operation of the vehicle should the tracks become somewhat uneven. The collectors are urged downwardly by coil springs 82 (FIG. 2) sandwiched between a rearwardly protruding arm portion 84 of each collector and the underside of the vehicle body. Rear lip portions 86 of the collectors are received in slots in conductive brackets 90 mounted on the underside of the vehicle body 20. The collectors should be fabricated of sufficiently yieldable material to permit their removal and repositioning on the underside of the vehicle so that any one vehicle may be adapted to collect current for its respective propulsion motor 32 from different pairs of contacts on the tracks, as described hereinafter. The collectors are conductively connected to the motor 32 by means of the conductive brackets 90 which are part of the conductive flanges 58 which are in sliding contact with motor terminal contacts 56.

Referring to FIG. 8, a cross section of one embodiment of a track or roadbed for the vehicles of the present invention is shown and corresponds to the upper track shown in FIG. 5. The side walls 66 and grooves 70 are shown. The grooves 70 preferably are polished to provide lesser traction for the wheels adjacent the track wall 66 than the wheels in the center of the track. As is apparent, each track comprises a roadbed for the vehicle having side-by-side right and left current conductive lanes, generally designated 92 and 94, respectively. Except for the shallow grooves 70 the roadbed provides a substantially flush tread surface permitting the vehicles to transfer freely from one lane to the other. The center of the roadbed is provided with a roughened strip 96 lengthwise therealong, the strip being fabricated of roughened material to provide better traction for the center wheels than the outer wheels. This traction differential further facilitates holding the vehicle against the track wall to preposition the steering mechanism. The roughened portion of the track may be molded directly in the track, or etching, or emery material or the like may be utilized. Each lane has a plurality of contacts 98 embedded in the track for contacting the current collectors 74 to provide current from a source thereof through the contacts 98 and the current collectors to the electrically operated propulsion motors 32. The track shown in FIG. 8 has six contact strips, three for each lane, two different pairs of each set of three contacts providing independent operation for a pair of vehicles, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show circuitry for a six contact track having two three contact lanes side by side along the track. The power supply comprises a single secondary transformer 100 (FIG. 6) terminating in a full wave bridge rectifier 102 with a capacitor filter 104. This circuit shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 has the advantages of identical hand controllers, generally designated by blocks 104a and l04b comprising controller A" and controller B, respectively, for identical vehicles, blocks 106a and 106b representing car A and car B, respectively. The only difference is in that the cars have differently disposed current collectors 74 to permit the vehicles to independently change lanes at will and/or race in the same lane. Removability and repositioning of the collectors 74 permit identical vehicles to be made into an A car or a B car. Car A" and its respective controller A are part of the output load of the circuit and car B and its respective controller B essentially are in parallel with car A to complete the output circuit. As seen in FIG. 6, each controller has a switch 108 and a rheostat 109. Controller A for car A leads to contacts 1 and 3 of the lefthand and righthand lanes, respectively, and controller B for car B leads to contacts 2 and 4 of the lefthand and righthand lanes, respectively, of the track. Thus, car A is powered, through current collectors 74 positioned to collect current from either of contacts 1 or 3 and the common contact c at the right in each lane. Car B is powered by either contacts 2 or 4 and the common contact c in the lanes. This condition is shown best in FIG. 7 where line 110 leads from controller A" and line 112 leads from controller B."

Steering of the vehicles is accomplished by either participant merely by instantly interrupting the power to the propulsion motor of his respective vehicle whereby the motor is forced forwardly to engage the front steering wheel axle assembly to steer the vehicle toward the opposite lane. The momentum of the vehicle causes it to be carried over the center roughened portion 96 of the track and the car regains power in the opposite lane whereby the worm gear pulls the motor rearwardly away from the steering wheel biasing means 34. Lane changing does require some minimum degree of speed in order to accomplish steering. With sufficient practice and a degree of manual dexterity, operators of the vehicles learn to effectively steer the vehicles smoothly from one lane to another while increasing and decreasing the speeds of the vehicle.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show circuitry for providing current through a four contact two lane track, two contacts for each lane and both contacts being common to either of the vehicles. The track is schematically shown by the lower embodiment in FIG. 5. Here again, a single secondary transformer 114 is utilized, but different polarities are associated with the two controllers A and B for cars A and B," respectively, as shown by diodes 115. The controllers and cars form parallel loads on the power supply. However, these outputs are of both plus and minus polarities simultaneously with respect to the common contacts in the lanes of the track. Because of the presence of both polarities on the hot" contact 116 of both lanes. each car must be wired to accept only one polarity while rejecting the other in order that they may be controlled independently. This requires that a blocking diode 118 (FIG. 10) be provided in the circuit of each car and that the worm gears of the vehicle be of opposite righthand and lefthand threads. In addition, since the principle of the circuitry in FIGS. 9 and 10 is based on simultaneous plus and minus half wave rectification, a smoothing capacitor 120 must also be provided in the circuitry of each vehicle to provide sufficient torque for the propulsion motor 32 and to reduce the problem of motor pul sations causing heating. Each controller for the vehicle is provided with a switch 122 and a rheostate 124 and with the opposite diodes 115 as shown in FIG. 9, the diodes providing the opposite polarity described above.

As stated above, the invention not only contemplates the utilization of the propulsion motors 32 as the movable mass for steering the vehicle, but also contemplates a freely movable mass mounted for movement solely as a result of momentum provided by reduction in the speed of the motor. Thus, a complete cessation of power to the vehicle need not be necessary since a free mass could move forwardly of the vehicle merely by slowing the vehicle. In addition, the novel movable motor of the present invention may be utilized to control operating characteristics of the vehicle other than the steering of the vehicle.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In a toy combination for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a predetermined path and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator, said vehicles each including a body provided with at least one surface engaging steering wheel, at least one surface engaging driving wheel, and a propulsion motor for operating the driving wheel, a roadbed travelled by said vehicles having side-by-side lanes with substantially flush tread surfaces permitting said vehicles to transfer from one lane to another, steering control means on said vehicle for guiding the direction of movement of each vehicle from one lane to another, and steering actuating means operatively associated with said steering control means and including a mass mounted for fore and aft movement on and relative to the vehicle to operate the steering control means on forward movement of the mass relative to the vehicle body when the vehicle is slowed, the improvement in said steering control means and said steering actuating means comprising a wheel axle assembly for said steering wheel including fulcrum means on said assembly for engaging complementary engaging surface means on said vehicle to pivot the assembly and thus the steering wheel in one direction or the other depending on the transverse location of the fulcrum means, means for shifting said assembly laterally of the vehicle to preposition said fulcrum means to thereby condition the steering control means for steering the vehicle in one of said directions, and abutting surface means between said mass and said assembly to pivot said assembly in response to forward movement of said mass when the vehicle is slowed.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said roadbed has upstanding curbing extending therealong on opposite sides thereof, and wherein said steering control means is operatively associated with said curbing to sense on which side of the vehicle the adjacent curbing is disposed and to shift said assembly and thus said fulcrum means so as to pivot said assembly and steering wheel, for steering the vehicle to the opposite lane of said roadbed.

3. The invention of claim 2 including means for holding a vehicle in close proximity to the adjacent upstanding curbing whereby said curbing is physically asssociated with said control means to bodily shift said assembly laterally of said vehicle to preposition said fulcrum means.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said fulcrum means includes a pair of fulcrum members on said assembly spaced apart laterally of said vehicle, and said complementary engaging surface means on said vehicle comprises a pair of surface members spaced apart laterally of said vehicle less than the spacing between said fulcrum members whereby said assembly can be shifted laterally of said vehicle so as to position one of said fulcrum members in an inoperative position in the spacing between said complementary surface members while maintaining the other fulcrum member in operative position in abutment with one of said complementary sur- 

1. In a toy combination for operating electrically propelled miniature vehicles along a predetermined path and for remotely controlling the vehicles in a manner to turn out and pass one another at the will of the operator, said vehicles each including a body provided with at least one surface engaging steering wheel, at least one surface engaging driving wheel, and a propulsion motor for operating the driving wheel, a roadbed travelled by said vehicles having side-by-side lanes with substantially flush tread surfaces permitting said vehicles to transfer from one lane to another, steering control means on said vehicle for guiding the direction of movement of each vehicle from one lane to another, and steering actuating means operatively associated with said steering control means and including a mass mounted for fore and aft movement on and relative to the vehicle to operate the steering control meanS on forward movement of the mass relative to the vehicle body when the vehicle is slowed, the improvement in said steering control means and said steering actuating means comprising a wheel axle assembly for said steering wheel including fulcrum means on said assembly for engaging complementary engaging surface means on said vehicle to pivot the assembly and thus the steering wheel in one direction or the other depending on the transverse location of the fulcrum means, means for shifting said assembly laterally of the vehicle to preposition said fulcrum means to thereby condition the steering control means for steering the vehicle in one of said directions, and abutting surface means between said mass and said assembly to pivot said assembly in response to forward movement of said mass when the vehicle is slowed.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said roadbed has upstanding curbing extending therealong on opposite sides thereof, and wherein said steering control means is operatively associated with said curbing to sense on which side of the vehicle the adjacent curbing is disposed and to shift said assembly and thus said fulcrum means so as to pivot said assembly and steering wheel, for steering the vehicle to the opposite lane of said roadbed.
 3. The invention of claim 2 including means for holding a vehicle in close proximity to the adjacent upstanding curbing whereby said curbing is physically asssociated with said control means to bodily shift said assembly laterally of said vehicle to preposition said fulcrum means.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said fulcrum means includes a pair of fulcrum members on said assembly spaced apart laterally of said vehicle, and said complementary engaging surface means on said vehicle comprises a pair of surface members spaced apart laterally of said vehicle less than the spacing between said fulcrum members whereby said assembly can be shifted laterally of said vehicle so as to position one of said fulcrum members in an inoperative position in the spacing between said complementary surface members while maintaining the other fulcrum member in operative position in abutment with one of said complementary surface members. 